If I Never Knew You

He was called the heart of Python; without him, Monty Python lost a bit of its magic. Terry Jones' absence was deeply felt. Patricia tried her best with Terry's absence. She decided to pitch Holy Grail, and she asked Michael to convince Terry to write it, but their negotiations always failed. She could recite the movie beat by beat, and Terry Gilliam co-directed it, but even though he was the head director, and the movie performed well, something was missing. The same happened for Life of Brian, with the best thing that came out of it was that Graham had finally quit alcohol and no longer smoked as well. She had at least saved him.

                She tried a few times to reach out to Terry herself, but her calls went unanswered, and her letters were returned to sender. Terry Jones started talking to the rest of the Pythons less and less as well, with Michael being the only one usually lucky to get hold of him sometimes. John was annoyed by the whole thing and just felt Terry was being too sensitive about it. All of them, including Terry Jones, had success in their solo projects.

                Though the separation from Python hit Terry Jones hardest, there were news reports of erratic behavior on sets of his films. There was a movie premiere where he was clearly under the influence. Her heart broke watching him. She longed to reach through the screen and hug him, to shake him out of it, but he was unreachable at this point. Soon, he started getting blacklisted as a director, with studios refusing to work with him. John and Terry Gilliam both tried to throw him a bone, but it ended with him either no-showing or starting a fight with John, who vowed never to work with him again.     

Reports came through that he had gotten married, and that gave her hope. By this time, all the Pythons were with their original spouses, and she thought this would be the catalyst to set the timeline right. But it was a whirlwind, toxic celebrity relationship that ended in divorce within one year. While in the past she tried to put it from her mind, she disrupted the lives of future Python children; she didn’t know enough about them to understand how her disruption would affect them. She knew from her timeline that she was told she had led a semi-virtuous life, and she began to fear that failing to take the kids into account would be a significant strike against her.

Her life was going exceptionally well. She still had ideas from when she had her comedy troupe and wasn’t limited by Python. A lot of her work was first of its kind, and she could pay homage to groups that were in her timeline from the 80s and 90s, and it was fresh. She tried her best not to steal anyone's work exactly, after all, that could be the skit, show, or movie idea that catapulted some of her favorites into stardom. There were so many movies she wanted to make her versions of, change the ending or middle, she thinks Terry Gilliam would’ve loved co-making The Terminator with her, or Eric Idle in Groundhog Day, Graham in Arthur, or Michael Palin being in Problem Child. She almost took Jamie Lee Curtis' role in  "A Fish Called Wanda,” but she urged John to hire Jamie instead. So many temptations were at her feet.

It was October 5^th, 1989, the 20^th anniversary of Monty Python. In her timeline, Graham would be dead by then, but here he was at an anniversary party he threw, happy and healthy with his partner David and adopted son John. She walked up to Graham and gave him the biggest hug and a kiss on his cheek, and she teared up a bit, and he said, “You’re acting as if someone died.” “You just have no idea how happy I am to see you here.” “Well, why wouldn’t I be?” “Sorry, I am just emotional. I guess we were all worried about the drinking and smoking, I guess. I have a feeling the 90s will be like nothing you ever seen, and I can’t wait to experience it with you.” Then Eric piped up, “What about the rest of us?” “All of you, of course! And Eric, I think it’s finally time I take you on a tour of Austin, Texas.” “I forgot all about that, but I’m sure I can find time for it, just give me a heads up.” She mirrored what he said to her all those years ago. “It’s a date.” And he smiled at her. She was born in 1989, but she is pretty sure she can easily navigate Austin, Texas, as she remembers her childhood in the 90s.

She still felt like the 90s were the best time period ever, and couldn’t wait to live through them again, with memories intact. She could go to the family home before it burned down and use her celebrity status to see if she could get invited in by her great-grandmother to walk through her home one last time, and she was thinking of settling down soon. She had planned on spending the 90s in the US. She had put off dating for work, but now she was ready for love and kids.  Things were perfect, almost. She caught a glimpse of Michael and Helen off to the side. Everyone was all smiles, but she could tell Michael had a heavy weight on his shoulders, and she knew the reason why.

She made her way over to him and greeted Helen warmly. Helen excused herself to get another drink, but Patricia felt it was because she wanted to give them some time alone, hoping to lighten Michael's mood. Michael smiled softly at her, trying his best to be cheerful, but she looked through it. She decided to cut to the chase and say, “I tried to reach out, and so did the others; we can’t make him come, Michael.” “It’s not right, how can we have this party without him?” “Because Python should be celebrated, the anniversary was going to come regardless. Would you rather we hadn't done anything at all? “I guess not, but still, he should be here.”

Graham was the one who spoke up; no one noticed he was upon them and said, “Let’s go get him.” Michael asked, “What now?” “Why not?” Then Michael said, “But what if he doesn’t come?” John found them as well and said, “Then we're going to force him even if I have to drag him by his toes; he has been on skid row long enough. Tonight is a night of celebration.” She smiled up at him, “How right you are, what do we tell everyone?” Graham spoke up in a boisterous voice, “Excuse me, everyone, the Pythons have to step out for the moment. We ask you all to stay where you are and not disrupt the cat. Eric, Terry, will you join us?” The other Pythons walked over and, without question, agreed to get their missing brother.

When they arrived at his flat, there was a lone light on, and Terry's car was in his driveway. They knew he was home and were prepared to get him. They walked to his door, and Michael gave a soft knock, but there was no answer. John said, “That won’t do it.” Then he starts beating on the door. Patricia was a little afraid the cops would be called. John spoke up, saying, “Terry, we are not going away; we can stay out here all night.” John knocked again, and Eric said, “Let’s just see if the door is open. Then he twisted the knob, and sure enough, the door opened, “See,” Eric said.

They walked in, and the scene before them was horrible. The house was filthy, probably not cleaned in months, with dirty dishes piled high in the sink, and take-away containers were everywhere. There was a stench in the air. Michaels softly called out, “Terry?” There was no answer. They started walking toward his bedroom, but they paused. The air felt heavy. Patricia turned to the TV, and a tape was paused,  it was the end credits of their show. Michael knocked softly on his bedroom door and said again, “Terry.” They all looked at each other, and Michael decided to open it and walk into his bedroom.

He let out a blood-curdling scream, and the other rushed in and froze. There in the bed facing them was Terry, pale and lips blue. His cheeks were streaked with tears, and there were clippings of Python articles and pictures of them around his bed. Though that wasn’t the only thing, there were used syringes and bits of white powder on the ground.

Michael ran to his friend, cradled him, and cried out, “Terry, wake up, wake up, Terry, please!” Terry Gilliam started breathing heavily, and his legs gave out. Michael screamed to Graham, “Save him, do something, damn it!” Graham, being a doctor, knew exactly what he was looking at and said, “He’s gone, Mike.” Michael screamed even louder, “No!!! God, please no! Bring him back, bring him back.” Eric punched the wall, made a hole, and started breaking down. John just stared, face breaking.

Patricia's heart shattered, and she went to her knees, crying. No, it wasn’t supposed to happen this way, this is not what she wanted, this is not what she came back for. This can’t be how things end up. Michael just cradled him and then looked at her. His eyes became filled with rage. Then he spat out, “This is your fucking fault, you did this!” It was like a knife went through her. It was her fault, but Michael couldn’t know the full gravity of why. Michael released Terry and grabbed her arm violently, pulling her up by the arm. She pushed her towards Terry J and screamed, “Look what you caused, look at him!”

John pushed Michael away and hugged Patricia. “Are you mad? You can’t blame her for any of this. Terry has been sinking for a long time; we all tried to pull him out of it. This is no one's fault.” Michael didn’t let up and said, “Think back, when he said he was quitting, she didn’t do a damn thing.” John got louder and said, “None of us did.” Michael then said, “But he left because of her; she should’ve been the one to quit, she should’ve walked away, and Terry stayed. It was always Terry, Gilliam, you, Eric, Graham, and me, then one day she shows up out of nowhere.” Then Michael met her gaze again and, this time with pure hatred, said, “You shouldn’t have come here.” It stopped her breath. John went to confront Michael, and when he let her go, she stood there frozen

“You’re right, you’re right. I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry”. Graham held her. John held Michael by his collar and snapped, “This isn’t helping, Michael. He is gone. There is nothing that can be done.” John was wrong. There was only one thing that could be done. She looked at Graham and kissed him on the cheek and said, “I hope you're there with me, I hope we can be friends again.” Graham looked at her, puzzled, and said, “What are you on about?” She didn’t explain. She walked to Terry Gilliam and took his hand; he squeezed hers. Then she made her way to Eric and held him. She said, “Sorry, Eric, you’ll have to see Texas without me.” Eric started to seem annoyed, “Why are you making this about you?!” But she just smiled at him, then she made her way to John, who had let go of Michael. She gave him a deep hug. She tried to hug Michael, but he pushed her. She tried again, and he broke down in her arms. “I will make everything right,” Michael, through sobs, said, “How?” She didn’t answer and made her way to Terry.

She looked at his tear-stained face, and his words were in her head as if he was speaking to her beyond the grave, “Heaven sounds terrific, but I'm not in a rush to get there…I chose a redo.” She smiled at him and said, “If we have a chance to meet again, I hope you’re not mad at me. Make the most of your 2^nd chance, then again, I know you will.” And she kissed his forehead. Then she turned to the rest of them and said, “Everyone, I just have to say for the first and final time…Thank you all, I love you, and I will miss you all so much…” Before anyone could say anything, she breathed deep and whispered, “Undo!”

White light encased the room, and she was somehow still in it, yet out of it. Everyone was frozen. A familiar voice spoke up, “Are you sure?” She turned to face the blue light. It was the timekeeper. She said, “Is there nothing I can do to at least save Graham?” The timekeeper, with a sternness, said, “All will be undone, you agreed to these rules.” She shook her head as she understood. He asked again, “Is this what you want?” She then said, “I have to…As sad as it was, Graham died happy. He had time to prepare, friends and family surrounded him, and he was loved. Terry didn’t, and he doesn’t deserve for his story to end this way. So I’m ready.” She looked back at the men one last time, gave one more smile, and said,  “undo.” Then everything went black.

Suddenly, there was rapturous applause, and she was in a packed stadium. She looked around. She didn’t know what was going on, but she was in the front row. Then the Monty Python theme played, and the crowd went wild. She was at their last live show. In her timeline, she couldn’t afford the tickets, but there she was front and center.

She cried happy tears and watched the magic unfold. She loved watching older Terry perform his skits, and she blew him a kiss. The entire thing was awe-inspiring, and then the end of the show came, and they did their bows to the crowd. She gave them a standing ovation along with everyone else.

But then they seemed to stop overlooking the crowd, and they all looked down right at her, meeting her eyes. There was no mistake, they were staring right at her and smiled widely. Her mouth was agape, and then she smiled back, and there was a pause for a moment before they all turned to walk off stage. White light overcame her again.

She was with the Time Keeper, and she asked, “Why did you let me do that?” “I can only grant one redo, but you still chose a selfless act. You were happy in the past; you could’ve chosen to stay after all.” She looked down and shook her head no; her choice was obvious and straightforward. Then she said, “It seemed like they knew me. I know it’s wishful thinking.” There was a pause, then the timekeeper spoke, “In some way, they did.” She was taken aback and asked, “How?” “Time can be undone, but bonds can’t.” She smiled the widest smile and started crying happily again. She then asked, “Is Graham there?” “I can’t tell you who is in the afterlife, but I can tell you, you will have an eternity to find him. Are you ready?” “Can you please look after my mom?” “I do not overlook such things, but I will pass the message along.” “Then I am ready. I had a great life.”

And her time was complete.